


Five Songs Make a Story // Five Stories a Song

by Gray Shadows (the_afterlight)



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Insomnia, M/M, Music, Non-Linear Narrative, Present Tense, Twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 19:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_afterlight/pseuds/Gray%20Shadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I suppose I should be glad you didn't name him Mr. Mistoffelees. I'd never get the song out of my head."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Songs Make a Story // Five Stories a Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lesca Fenix (lescafenix)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lescafenix/gifts).



Naya's hosting the party this week. Chris is somewhere in the middle of the room, people around him laughing and chattering -- drinks are being thrust this way and that, "Try this!" "Got my own, thanks!" "Have you tried the egg nog? Lea brought it!" with no regard for personal health or safety. Not that it matters, Chris realizes, because if one of them gets sick, it's not going wait until they share drinks at a party to spread through the entire cast.

There's a break in the crowd, enough for Chris (and his drink, spiced rum and Coke; no way is he letting go of it in this crowd. It'd be gone in moments) to slip through and find a corner to lean in. He smiles as he watches his friends mill about, shouting, laughing, singing. Always singing, this group, and like now, it's often Disney. Usually he can blame Lea or Jenna for the Disney, though, when he's not the one starting it, and Lea's too busy making out with... someone Chris can't quite see from his angle, but he's pretty sure this week she's onto Cory again, and Jenna, Chris can see, is heading down the hallway to the bedroom (or possibly the bathroom), dragging Mark behind her.

Ah, young love. Or, Chris amends, young actors and their casual physical boundaries. But that still doesn't explain the- Oh! Of course.

" _I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty!_ " rang Darren's voice above the crowd. " _I've got whozits and whatsits galore!_ "

Someone, Chris thinks it might be Harry but it's hard to tell a) at that volume and b) with everyone else talking, shouts, "Not that again! Sing something new!"

There's a brief pause. Even Lea stops sucking on Cory's face for long enough to hear what Darren's going to launch into next. Chris can just see him if leans forward and looks around Heather. Darren is pensive at first, and clearly drunk, but it's adorable on him, especially when his face lights up and he says:

" _Mama, I don't have time for dancin'! That's just gonna have to wait a while._ "

It's apparently to the crowd's liking, since Heather, and then Amber, then Chord, Damian, Harry all join in. Chris assumes that's at least partly because half of them watched _The Princess and the Frog_ in his trailer the week before. He stays silent himself, although he can't help smiling.

Next song, he promises himself: Darren might do a good Tiana, but Chris is, if he does say so himself, a _mean_ Rapunzel. Mandy Moore, eat your heart out.

* * *

"... It's a cat."

Darren doesn't even look up at Chris, instead focusing all his attention on the little ball of fluff in his hands. "He's not just a _cat_ ," he says, scornfully. "This? Is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington the Third!"

Chris barely manages to keep from actually facepalming; it wouldn't do anything, anyway. "You named your new cat after a Harry Potter ghost," he says. It isn't a question. "Why am I not surprised that you named your new cat after a Harry Potter ghost?"

"Who's a widdle schnookums? Whooooo's a widdle schnookums?"

"Can I expect you to share _any_ of your attention today?" Chris snarks. "Or should I just leave you alone with Nearly-Headless Nick? You two look like you need some alone time."

Darren glances up for just a moment before returning his attention to the cat. "It's okay, Sir Nicholas," he stage-whispers to his new feline companion. "He just doesn't understand your inherent awesomeness."

"So help me, Darren, if you start singing-"

" _If you offer me pheasant I'd rather have grouse! If you put me in a house I would much prefer a flat! If you put me in a flat then I'd rather have a house!_ "

Chris sighs and turns to walk away. "I suppose I should be glad you didn't name him Mr. Mistoffelees. I'd never get the song out of my head."

* * *

The fourteenth time they run through the choreography, Chris swears he's going to kill every single person who had any connection to the idea of doing Moves Like Jagger for Nationals. He can do it. He has the sais in his trailer, and he know how to use them.

"Y'know," Darren says, flopping down beside Chris when they're given three minutes to catch their breath. "If you keep crashing into me like that, I'm going to think you're doing it on purpose."

Chris turns to tear Darren a new one, at least verbally, but the disarming grin on the other man's face stops him short. "Oh, whatever," he says, instead, letting his head flop back. "They're finally going to kill us. That's what they're going to do. Did you see? _Harry and Heather_ are having trouble with this."

Darren leans in, and Chris assumes it's for a shoulder bump until Darren stays leaned in, his side pressed up against Chris. "We'll be fine," he insists. "C'mon, I know you've got the moves like Jagger."

"... You did not just say that."

" _Baby, it's hard when you feel like you're broken and scarred!_ " Darren stands up pulling Chris with him. He throws Chris into the next steps of the choreography, and Chris, without thinking, catches himself and slides. " _Nothing feels right, but when you're with me I'll make you believe that I've got the key!_ "

Chris catches movement out of the corner of his eye and just barely manages to dodge the rolled up sock that Chord threw in their direction. "We're on break," he reminds them. "Break. Which means we stop. Which means _shut up_."

Laughing, Darren waves it off, but he does stop, letting Chris go and sit down again. When they start rehearsing again, though, Chris doesn't crash into Darren anymore, the steps finally starting to make sense in his head.

He doesn't let himself think about how his side tingles, where Darren leaned against it, for the rest of the day.

* * *

It's late -- _really_ late, like 3AM late -- and Chris has a 7AM call, and he still hasn't slept.

He's in bed, trying to rest. Resting, he figures, is enough, will have to be enough, if he can't get to sleep. He's tried everything: warm milk, chamomile tea, everything short of actual prescription drugs. He's even jerked off. Nothing. Still awake, staring at the ceiling, room lit by the green glow of his alarm clock and the omnipresent Los Angeles lights. And, for whatever reason, his brain is refusing to shut off.

He lets out an inarticulate cry before giving up and reaching over for his phone. He unlocks it and opens up Twitter:

>  **Chriscolfer** Can't sleep. Someone sing me a lullaby?

There are a few responses right away, mostly from Europe, none of which are anything more than sympathetic fans. They make him smile, but don't really do much to help. He's just putting down his phone when it starts to vibrate in his hand.

The caller ID reads Darren.

Chris swallows once, twice. His heart feels like it skipped a beat. It has to be because of the tweet, he tells himself; Darren saw it and knew that Chris was awake, that's all, and he wants to commiserate over the lack of sleep.

He accepts the call. "Hello?"

" _It's a quarter after three, I'm all alone and I need you now,_ " Darren sings, instead of responding. His voice is soft, and a little breathy, like he's trying to be quiet. Or like he's singing a lullaby. " _Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now._ "

Chris holds his breath. "Are you-" he started. "Is this-"

" _And I don't know how I can do without. I just need you now._ "

"So help me, Darren Criss, if this is some kind of joke, I will beat you down."

There's a pause; Darren does, at least, stop singing. "I know what you're going to say," he says, his voice a little tinny over the phone connection. "And maybe it's really weird, or something. I mean, it's not like I think you were serious on Twitter or anything, you don't really want a lullaby. But I thought..."

Darren, Chris knows, sleeps naked. It came up one night during Never Have I Ever at one of... Naya's? No, one of Lea's parties. The knowledge is _not helping_ at the moment, not when Darren is on the other end of the phone, presumably in bed -- and presumably, therefore, naked -- and asking Chris for permission to sing him to sleep. "You thought you'd call and sing me a lullaby," Chris finished. "Lady Antebellum seems an odd choice."

There's a moment of silence, and Chris wonders if AT&T has once again dropped his call, but then Darren says, "I thought about being subtle. This seemed like it might work better."

Which means, Chris realises, that Darren is naked, in bed, and thinking about Chris.

Not. Helping.

"Next time," Chris suggests, "you could just ask me out to dinner."

Darren laughs. "What's the fun in that?"

* * *

They're done for the day, just lounging about in the green room. Darren's at the piano, [tooling around](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3C79ebnUMY) with something that sounds vaguely familiar, but Chris can't place it. "What's that?" he asks, leaning against the piano bench with a book across his knees. Naya and Heather are curled up with Naya's iPad in one of the armchairs, while Chord, Damian, and Mark are huddled around Damian's laptop, the Americans trying to explain the finer points of American football to the Irish boy.

"'S from a video game," Darren explains absently. "Disney thing. Never actually played it, just like the music."

Chris nods and goes back to his book, leaning in a little so that his head is resting against Darren's side. Naya looks up for a moment, giving them a smile before returning to whatever it is that she and Heather are watching.

She probably thinks they're dating, Chris realises. Most of the cast, if what Lea was saying is true, have thought that for months. And maybe they are; they've had dinner a few times now, once out in a little tacqueria and twice with Chris cooking. Chris just knows that, whatever they're doing, he likes it.

**Author's Note:**

> Songs are: Part of Your World (Disney's The Little Mermaid); Almost There (Disney's The Princess and the Frog); Rum Tum Tugger (CATS); Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera); Need You Now (Lady Antebellum); and Dearly Beloved (Kingdom Hearts).


End file.
